LSU Tigers running back Jeremy Hill (33) celebrates a touchdown with wide receiver Jarvis Landry (80) and offensive tackle La'el Collins (70) during the first half of a game against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Tiger Stadium. / Derick E. Hingle, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

LSU and Georgia meet Saturday at the crossroads, with a win likely sending each team to even greater heights but a loss, particularly for the Bulldogs, perhaps serving as a troubling harbinger of things to come during the heart of SEC play.

Consider the Tigers: LSU is a quiet 4-0, thanks to the play of Alabama and Texas A&M, but has shown the sort of offensive potency largely lacking during the last three or four seasons. Due to the small sample size, a letdown in Athens, Ga., could cause LSU to fall off the SEC radar until November's date with Alabama â?? because although impressive so far, the Tigers have yet to face a title contender in a hostile environment.

Georgia, on the other hand, already has lost a game on the road to a top-10 team â?? dropping a 38-35 decision to Clemson in the season opener. With a win against South Carolina in hand and Florida's inherent issues on offense and with injuries, the Bulldogs can see a clear path to another appearance in the SEC title game. Losing to LSU would not only drop Georgia to 2-2; it would reopen the SEC East race to a number of teams with BCS aspirations.

Here are nine other teams with something to prove this weekend in college football:

Central Florida: The Knights are 3-0 for the first time since 1988 â?? when the three wins came against Bethune-Cookman, West Georgia and Troy. Though Louisville has earned headlines as the undisputed American Athletic Conference favorite, Central Florida has staked claim to being the Cardinals' biggest challenge on the road to the BCS. Better yet, the Knights can vastly alter the American's pecking order by beating No. 13 South Carolina at home. How could things change? A win Saturday could make UCF the American favorite, knocking Louisville down a peg.

Virginia: Cavaliers coach Mike London performed an extensive overhaul of his coaching staff during the offseason, bringing in steady and experienced hands like Jon Tenuta, Steve Fairchild and Tom O'Brien to help the Cavaliers overcome the sort of unsteadiness that defined last year's disappointing finish. London brought in these assistants to help form a stronger offensive and defensive identity, and specifically for games like Saturday's road date with Pittsburgh. With a difficult November in the near future, the Cavaliers must start ACC play on the right note.

Northern Illinois: First things first: NIU is still undefeated. However, the Huskies have looked mediocre in wins against Idaho and Eastern Illinois, falling behind 20-3 to the latter before eking out a 42-39 win. Saturday's game against a rebuilding Purdue team reunites NIU with former Kent State coach Darrell Hazell, who led the Golden Flashes against the Huskies in last year's MAC title game. Though 12-0 is still a possibility, depending on MAC play, NIU needs to impress against big-time competition to remain in the mix with Fresno State for an at-large BCS bid.

Oklahoma: Is quarterback Blake Bell this good? Well, probably not. But you saw some of his potential during OU's 51-20 win against Tulsa on Oct. 5, when Bell threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start. Half of those totals might be good enough to lift the Sooners past Notre Dame, but only if Oklahoma's defense â?? so far one of the best in the country â?? continues its recent ways under second-year coordinator Mike Stoops. The best sign for OU is the play of its pass defense, which has intercepted three passes and not allowed a touchdown through three games. The key is simple: Stop the run, win the game.

Ohio State: Don't blame the Buckeyes for last weekend's 76-0 win against Florida A&M: Vanderbilt backed out of a scheduled matchup, forcing OSU to search far and wide for an opponent to round out its non-conference slate. But the nature of last year's yawn-heavy victory raises a question: Is Ohio State ready for Big Ten competition â?? and, specifically, is this defense ready for Melvin Gordon, James White and Wisconsin's run-heavy offense? In a way, the Buckeyes are in a no-win situation: They've already been anointed the cream of the Big Ten crop, so a win is assumed; a loss would send OSU tumbling out of the championship conversation.

Boise State: Never before during coach Chris Petersen's ridiculously successful tenure â?? dating back to 2006 â?? has Boise State lost two games in September. (Only twice before, in 2007 and 2012, has Boise lost two games during the regular season.) So we're in uncharted territory with the Broncos, who have dropped games to Washington and Fresno State before entering the meat of the Mountain West Conference schedule. It's time for this team to show its true colors: Will the Broncos fall short of 10 wins for the first since 2005, or will they rebound after a sluggish start?

Miami (Ohio): Florida International gained only 30 yards of offense in last weekend's 72-0 loss to Louisville. Despite that level of ineptitude, Miami (Ohio) still ranks last in the FBS in total offense, averaging a paltry 149.33 yards per game. In comparison, 52 FBS teams are averaging more yards per game than Miami has accumulated during an 0-3 start. With a game at Illinois up next, these are not good times for the RedHawks.

Arizona: The Wildcats meet Washington in a crucial cross-divisional Pac-12 matchup. Washington has two factors in its favor: one, home-field advantage, and two, the sort of fortitude that comes with wins against Boise State and Illinois. The Wildcats, on the other hand, have started 3-0 against Northern Arizona, UNLV and Texas-San Antonio. The Wildcats remain a bit of an enigma, in other words. But with the Pac-12 lacking a clear fourth contender â?? behind Oregon, Stanford and UCLA â?? the winner of this game will stand just a hair behind that group in the push for the Rose Bowl.

Ball State: The Cardinals are right on schedule, minus a somewhat avoidable hiccup against North Texas on Sept. 14. At 3-1, 1-0 in MAC play, Ball State is right in line to continue making up ground on Northern Illinois and Toledo, the two year-to-year favorites in the West Division. Speaking of Toledo: BSU hosts the Rockets Saturday in one of the three or four biggest games of the conference season. Where does Ball State go from here? A win vaults them on a collision course with NIU on Nov. 13. A loss doesn't impact coach Pete Lembo's quest for yet another successful season, but it would drastically diminish BSU's chances of taking home a MAC title.

Paul Myerberg, a national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @PaulMyerberg.